Find Your Unique Selling Proposition
No offense to any of you, but I have the most adorable niece in the world. She is the cutest thing on the face of the planet. And she is the sweetest little piece of Heaven you’ll ever get the pleasure of knowing. Sound like I love her? I do. But, you should probably also know that at 4 years old, she’s a world-class motormouth, a nuclear-powered ball of energy, she doesn’t have the slightest concept of filtering what she says, and there is a stubborn streak running through her that defies logic and, which too often, gets her so deep into trouble she would benefit from a criminal defense attorney.
That’s no way to sell you on my niece, right? I gave you far too much information, some of which is seriously conflicting; is she sweet or a Tasmanian devil? Overdoing it on your postcard, much like I’ve done here in describing my niece, only confuses your prospect. What you need to do is read from their point of view, and design the postcard thinking about your product or service’s Unique Selling Proposition or USP. What is it that will make them want to buy your product or get more information from you? These 4 Unique Selling Proposition Best Practices will help you do just that (& more):
- Highlight the one or two best product benefits – There is one, most important, most impactful thing your product or service is going to provide for/solve for/give to your prospect. It is the magic bullet that distinguishes it against your competition. Be it price, scent, strength, sustainability, reputation, ease of use, whatever! Your offering is better than the competition. Tell them why! You want to put in front of your reader what entices them, solves their pain. “Take advantage of Password Vault today and you’ll never forget a password AGAIN!”
- What approach does the competition take? – This really has more to do with whether or not you agree or disagree with their approach. Does their marketing grab you? Does it leave you not fully understanding the benefit? Is there a weak Call-to-Action? Take what you don’t like about what the competition does and formulate an opposite approach. If their postcard didn’t grab you, it probably won’t grab the target audience, either. There’s zero reason to replicate a failed approach.
- If you don’t know, RESEARCH – If you aren’t quite sure what your prospects and clients really want out of a product like yours, it’s very easy to conduct a little research to find the answers. The best part is, the answers are probably right under your nose. Anything from attending industry-specific seminars and webinars and asking attendees their preference, to just asking your clients what they love best about your product can be powerful insight, and will be helpful in your direct marketing efforts.
- Being selective is okay – Marketing genius, Herschell Gordon Lewis is famous for saying, “When you emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing.” Don’t let your message get lost in too many words, and don’t give the reader too many options to focus on. Direct them to that one, unique thing you want to sell them on, formulate the approach around it, and don’t stray from that message.
What’s great about identifying your Unique Selling Proposition is that you don’t have to have just one. BUT…you should only focus on one at a time. If there are a million reasons why a prospect should take a chance on you or your company, or if there are great reasons why an existing client should continue to use your services, there’s no shame in breaking them up into separate, focused campaigns. Holiday campaigns, campaigns tied to special occasions, personalized campaigns for select sets of your clients, whatever the case may be.
Give Opportunity Knocks a call today. Our Success Coaches are standing by to help you maximize the uniqueness of everything you sell. None of them will agree to babysit my niece, but they’re ready and willing to help you create a perfect, stand out, focused, and winning postcard campaign.